The South Asian nation of Sri Lanka has been facing a crippling gasoline shortage as part of a financial crisis that has caused anger and discomfort to the public.
The country has been dealing with liquidity issues as its currency reserves run dry, causing disruptions in the purchase of essential goods such as food, power and medication. Sri Lanka's inflation rate reached 54.6% in June.
According to Bloomberg, the government in the country was unable to even pay for a tanker's worth of oil in May. With fuel reserves running dry, Sri Lanka had to impose restrictions on the sale of fuel to essential services like public and medical transport for two weeks. The government has vouched to restock in fuel supplies by the 10th of July.
Gas stations are now giving fuel through queue tokens to up 150 drivers at a time. Reports say that some stations have queues of at least 300 people. In Colombo, a taxi driver who had ran out of fuel had been waiting in his car for two days with the hope of refilling and was unsure as to whether and when he will be able to do so.
Financial experts estimate that Sri Lanka's foreign debt is reaching $51 billion against a foreign reserve of only $25 million, mainly due to problems of gross financial management and nepotism.
The country's government blames the CoViD-19 pandemic instead for the fall in tourism trade - Sri Lanka's largest source of income.
Tens of thousands of people have been protesting in Colombo, demanding the resignation of the country's President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
[Based on reporting by: Business Insider]
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